We all have some emotions tied to the good ol’ days. But that does not make for good or particularly consistent policy.
Consider a reference to the good ok’ days of the environment (Ignore the actual facts). It is thought that we need to work toward a more “sustainable” future largely because in comparison with the past the planet seems to be worse today.
I encourage you to talk to people who care about sustainability.
Then ask then what they think about access to health care. In this case the past is totally irrelevant for many people and wholly ignored. This is particularly striking given that access to health care today is far more different than access to yesteryear’s healthcare than differences in environmental conditions over time. For instance just a century ago health insurance was in its infancy and largely run by mutual aid societies (aside: given the amount if Scandinavian navel gazing of late, does anyone know the history of mutual aid there and whether the modern “enlightened” welfare states there have a private precedent?). Access to health care was spotty at best and probably was as likely to make you sicker as better.
So how come when we meet discussions of today’s “crisis” in health care history is entirely forgotten and swept under the rug if recognized, yet the basis for taking environmental “action” seriously is rooted on a previously “better” state?
The Sustainable folks have worried about running out of everything since Malthus.
How about running out of money? (Qualification: running out of money that has some temporary definable purchasing power, better than pre-Hitler Deutshmarks.)
Obamacare, 800 billion a year in food stamps, unemployment compensation, QE Forever, Social Security — all are unsustainable IN THE NEAR TERM if we do not get growth. We will not get the growth needed if we strangle ourselves with stupid energy policy.
Or stupid foreign policy. The Shiite Heads in Iran want the End of Days. The Sustainable folks might think about that idea when urging us to leave natural gas in the ground for future generations.
“It is thought that we need to work toward a more “sustainable” future largely because in comparison with the past the planet seems to be worse today.” This is a straw man. We need to work towards sustainability so the future can be as good as today. The past has nothing to do with it.